The Children’s Rehabilitation Center has been one of the most effective groups working with children whose families have been dislocated by years of military actions against supporters of autonomy for Muslims in the southern Philippines. CRC has also responded to the needs of children facing urban poverty and government neglect of the housing and employment needs of the poor.

Last year’s grant aided work with children who suffered the loss of family and friends in Payatas, the site of a huge garbage dump that collapsed. The first two phases of mental health support for Payatas children, emotional release and meaning construction, were completed. The 2002 grant will be used for the third and final stage, cognitive mastery, part of which involves children becoming advocates, through the use of theater arts and provision of direct aid, to help other children facing similar human rights abuses.